Written by John Bell as part of the St. Bride setting, this paperless response incorporates call and echo learning to encourage community participation. The melody rises and falls gently, inviting a quiet, focused energy. When learned well, the piece can be sung as a canon in as many as four parts (with groups entering each measure).
It could sung a cappella or accompanied by a drone instrument (a shruti box or a soft unison or open fifth on the organ) to support the community's voice.
"Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world,
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God you take away the sin of the world,
grant us your peace."
Teaching note from Paul Vasile: Practice the response before worship and encourage the community to trust your gestures, even if they seem to be too soon. The overlapping parts generate energy and the confidence of the community will grow in time.
Copyright for the piece is held by GIA Publications, Inc. so you'll need a OneLicense membership to print the text or music.
Sheet music can be found in Singing In Community, our latest songbook published by Augsburg Fortress. The setting is also published in Come All You People, Singing the Faith, and the Iona Abbey Music Book.
This call and echo Sanctus was composed for the Iona Community in Scotland. It can be sung unaccompanied or with a drone instrument (like a shruti box).
The echo comes quite quickly and there is slightly overlap between the leader and the assembly, so be ready to cue them with a clear, inviting gesture.
"Holy, holy,
Holy Lord of pow'r and might.
Heaven, earth,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
All glory to your name.
Blessed, blessed,
Is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Blessed, blessed,
Is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!"
Copyright for the piece is held by GIA Publications, Inc. so you'll need a OneLicense membership to print the text or music.
You can find more information and purchase sheet music on Hymnary. The piece is also published in The Faith We Sing.
This South African Song in Xhosa is roughly translated “Go with us, our Savior” and comes from the repertoire of anti-Apartheid Freedom Songs written in the 1970's and 80's. It was shared with the MMC community by Paul Vasile, who learned it from Pamela Warrick Smith. In the spirit of music from many African contexts, the song invites opportunities for improvisation and adding actions/themes specific to the community's needs or experiences.
We have seen leaders share it as zipper/pocket song (i.e. Go with us, Lord, and give us your love/joy/peace) or deepen its communal spirit by crafting new verses (i.e. Come walk with us and share in our bread/...and join in the song). It makes a powerful sending song.
"Hamba nathi Mkhululi wethu"
There are several poetic translations of the song into English, not all faithful to the original Xhosa:
1. You Are Holy, You Show Us the Way
2. God With Us, Lord, and Set Us All Free
3. Come Walk With Us, the Journey Is Long (Anders Nyberg)
Teaching note from Paul Vasile: When you lead Hamba nathi, make sure that you keep a steady beat so the group feels the syncopated rhythm of the tune. I teach the tune first and once that's set offer the bass line. If folks don't intuitively add harmony (almost every group I've taught this to has), outline parts.
Here is sheet music for an SATB setting in Xhosa.
Here is a recording of the song by the Drakensberg Boy's Choir in South Africa.
This South African traditional song from the singing of the Mooiplaas congregation was transcribed and arranged by John Bell of the Iona Community.
To lead it, sing through it once or twice, perhaps reinforcing the shape of the melody with your hand. It's easy enough that folks will start singing with you quickly. Encourage harmony and add the leader part once the group is confident.
Swahili:
"Woza nomthwalo wakho,
Woza nomthwalo wakho,
Woza nomthwalo wakho,
Uyes’akasozathi hayi.
English singing translation:
"Come, bring your burdens to God,
come, bring your burdens to God,
Come, bring your burdens to God
for Jesus will never say no."
Copyright for the piece is held by GIA Publications, Inc. so you'll need a OneLicense membership to print the text or music.
Find sheet music for the song here. It can also be found in We Walk His Way.
Here's a recording of the song from The Iona Community:
Whoever Eats This Bread is by composer and consultant Eric Law of the Kaleidoscope Institute. It is an excellent example of a notated composition found in a hymnal that can be easily adapted for paperless singing.
Commonly used during the Distribution of Elements within a eucharistic liturgy (the time when the bread and wine are shared), the antiphon/antiphon can be taught through call and echo patterns. Once confident, it can be sung as a three-part canon; secondary canons can also be added on the verses.
The piece can be sung a cappella or accompanied by an ostinato chord progression played by a keyboard instrument or guitar.
Antiphon:
Whoever eats this bread will live for ever.
1. This is the true bread
which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world. Antiphon
2. Whoever believes in me
shall not hunger or thirst,
for the bread which I give
for the life of the world is my flesh. Antiphon
Copyright for the piece is held by Church Publishing, Inc. If you don't have copies of The Episcopal Hymnal or Wonder, Love, and Praise in your community, you'll need a OneLicense membership to print the text or music.
Sheet music can be found in The Episcopal Hymnal #S170, as well as in the supplemental hymnal Wonder, Love, and Praise. It is also available for purchase here.
Here is a recording of Eric Law teaching the piece at our Music that Makes Community workshop in Los Angeles in October 2008.
Kerri Meyer wrote There Is Enough at a Music that Makes Community workshop and it became an instant hit! The melody was adapted from a Peter Mayer refrain and she also composed a descant to sing over the tune.
The song is easy to teach through call and echo. Simple hand gestures can help reinforce the subtle differences between the phrases, especially the first and third. And harmony is so intuitive it may show up before you invite folks to add it.
We've seen the piece shared in so many settings - from church suppers and stewardship campaigns to a protest in the office of a United States senator.
"There is enough!
There is enough!
There is enough, oh,
Enough and some to share!"
Descant:
"God has blessed her people, God has blessed us!"
The Rev. Breen Sipes of Tri-Saints Lutheran Parish in rural Nebraska shared additional verses she's used with young people in her community:
"I am enough..."
"You are enough..."
"God has enough..."
Kerri has given faith communities permission to sing and share the song without copyright restrictions.
Sheet music can be found here.
Hear an audio clip of Kerri leading this song at our 2014 Musical Test Kitchen in San Francisco.
And here's a video of AnnaMarie Hoos leading this song at our Winter Retreat at The Bishop's Ranch in 2015.
Ruth Cunningham wrote this setting of a Celtic blessing, a variation or simplification of the beloved St. Patrick's Breastplate, and it was brought to the MMC community by Ana Hernandez. The song works beautifully as a blessing, prayer song, or as a gentle Passing of Peace. Gestures, as modeled in the video below, can also help a community experience this prayer with their bodies.
The focus of the song can shift easily from 'me' to 'you' to 'us,' slowly widening the circle of intention. It can also be treated like a zipper/pocket song, with variations offered alongside or instead of 'Christ.'
"Christ be with me, Christ before me,
Christ to the right of me, Christ behind me,
Christ to the left of me, Christ above me,
Christ below me, Christ within me."
Alternative text:
Love be with me...
Peace be with me...
Teaching note from Donald Schell: When I'm leading this song, I sing a minor scale (1,2,3,4,5) to myself and drop down one note (7 below 1) to find the starting note. I begin with people standing and ask them to "do what I do and sing what I sing" and I encourage large gestures - big arm motions, stepping forward, moving whole body and from center. The gestures help people learn the song including the sequence of directions'
I usually begin with singing the whole "Christ be with you" and have people echo phrase by phrase (overlapping slightly). Usually I'll do a second iteration (choosing to substitute 'me' or 'us' for 'you') still singing call and echo, phrase by phrase. Just ahead of beginning the third iteration (shifting pronoun again), I say, "sing with me" and the shift from call and echo to simple melody in unison.
Sheet music can be found in Singing In Community, our latest songbook published by Augsburg Fortress.
Here is a video of Donald leading the song:
Here's a recording of Ruth Cunningham with her singing partner Ana Hernandez:
Sylvia Miller-Mutia created Come to the Feast at a Music that Makes Community gathering in January 2015. While created as a song for people to sing in procession to the table for communion, it is easily adapted to serve as an invitation or transition into any part of the liturgy.
"Come to the feast!
Come, one and all. Come to the feast."
Alternative texts:
Come, hear the Word...
Come, pray with us...
Go now in peace...
Here's a video of Sylvia leading her song at The Bishop's Ranch in Healdsburg, CA:
This contemplative, layered setting of Psalm 65 by psalmist Richard Bruxvoort-Colligan is a dialogue between two phrases in different languages.
Dumiyah
Tibi silens laus
Hebrew translation:
Silence
Latin translation:
For you, silence is praise
Richard's music is licensed through CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Be sure report use of the piece if you print the text or music for your community.
Sheet music for the song is available in the "Our Roots are In You" collection on the PsalmImmersion website.
Here's a recording of the song by Richard:
This short song by psalmist Richard Bruxvoort Colligan is a personal and corporate invitation to stewardship of our lives, our time, and the resources we have been given. Richard teaches the piece through call and echo, lining out each line of the song until the group feels ready to sing it from beginning to end.
The song would be suitable for seasons of discipleship and stewardship. It can be sung a cappella or accompanied by guitar or keyboard.
"To be faithful with what I've been given
To be faithful with who I am
To be faithful with how I am living
I (we) pray to be faithful.
To be faithful with what we've been given
To be faithful with who we are
To be faithful with how we are living
We pray to be faithful."
Richard's music is licensed via CCLI, OneLicense.net and Worldmaking.net. Be sure report use of the piece if you plan to print the text or music for your community.
Sheet music and a recording are available on Richard's website.
Here is a video of the song.